Norwich v Newcastle: Do either club have what it takes to beat the drop?

SunSport assesses the two relegation candidates and whether they can stay up after tough seasons

VIKKI ORVICE

6th April 2016, 5:18 pm

Updated: 6th April 2016, 5:18 pm

THE roars that rang round Carrow Road at the final whistle on Saturday told their own story.

Seemingly doomed a few weeks ago after a run which saw them pick up one point out of 27, Norwich have now moved four clear of the drop zone, with Newcastle plunging to six points from safety.

Both clubs are fighting for their lives at the foot of the Premier League table

Martin Olsson’s injury-time strike could prove decisive for the survival prospects of both teams.

SunSport’s VIKKI ORVICE runs the rule over two sides that go into the final stretch in very different frames of mind.

DO THEY HAVE THE BOTTLE?

NORWICH: The Canaries remained cool, calm and collected from the first whistle.

Even when Newcastle levelled from the penalty spot in the 86th minute their heads did not go down and they snatched the winner in injury time.

Manager Alex Neil believes his side have the courage required. He said: “Norwich over seasons gone by have been looked at as having a soft underbelly but I don’t think we’ve got anything like a soft underbelly at the moment.

“We fight tooth and nail for everything and always until the last minute. At this stage of the season you have to keep cool heads as much as the quality.”

Martin Olsson fired home a late winner in Norwich's win over Newcastle

NEWCASTLE: Rafa Benitez admitted his players must learn to control their nerves if they are to survive.

They looked jittery from the start, making a series of mistakes and only seemed to start playing for the final 30 minutes.

The defence was woeful with Steven Naismith given the freedom of the pitch and Dieumerci Mbokani strolling past Daryl Janmaat for Norwich’s second goal.

Benitez said: “When you are at the bottom, you have to manage situations and your character and your nerves and we didn’t do that well in the first half.

“We have to have more confidence but when you’re making mistakes, then the pressure becomes bigger. These things are what we have to manage if we want to win more points and stay up.”

THE MANAGER

NORWICH: Neil is practised at clawing out results in the Championship having led the Canaries to promotion via the play-offs last season.

The Scot said: “We’re used to playing a lot of big games. Even last year when I came in, we had to win every game to get to the top and win the play-offs.

“I think we showed we can handle the big occasion. We did it last season with huge games.

“Against Ipswich (in the play-off semi-finals) we were the team that were expected to win so we’ve had the pressure of being the bigger club.”

NEWCASTLE: Former Real Madrid boss Benitez could have been at El Clasico on Saturday — not Carrow Road.

Rafa Benitez has very little experience in relegation battles

He is more used to leading teams to major European honours than a relegation dogfight and already looks frustrated that the Newcastle players are failing to put into practice what he is telling them on the training ground.

Storming down the tunnel without shaking hands with Neil appeared a sign of his anger, although he maintained: “I knew it might be difficult, so as a manager I have to make sure I don’t make mistakes, too.”

HAVE PLAYERS GOT WHAT IT TAKES?

NORWICH: No Billy Big-Times at Carrow Road in a squad that always knew this season was all about staying up.

What they do have, though, is a collective endeavour and willingness to work together to achieve their ambition.

NEWCASTLE: Benitez’s players already appear to be suffering from ‘We’re Too Good To Go Down’ Syndrome. Clearly they need a reality check.

On paper they have players capable of individual brilliance but lack unity as a team. Jonjo Shelvey showed spells of quality but then went missing as did Andros Townsend, despite setting up Aleksandar Mitrovic for his first leveller.

Mitrovic did his best when he finally came on, scoring twice but it was too little, too late.

Townsend, though, was adamant: “The results don’t reflect the quality that we’ve got within the squad.

“If you look around the dressing room and see the players that we’ve got, you wouldn’t then look at the table and believe the position we’re in.

“For me, it’s mad we are where we are. We’ve got an incredible squad, full of internationals in almost every position. It’s crazy that we’re in the position we’re in.”

TACTICS AND SELECTION

NORWICH: Neil was forced into changes through injuries but you wouldn’t have known it. The Canaries players have all bought into his work ethic and appeared a team in every sense.

Naismith and Timm Klose, who was astonishingly allowed the freedom of the six-yard box to head home the opener, are proving shrewd buys in the January transfer window.

Newcastle supporters look on in dejection after a heart-breaking defeat

NEWCASTLE: Why didn’t Benitez start with Mitrovic, who had scored in the derby against Sunderland recently, rather than Papiss Cisse?

The Serb replaced Vurnon Anita on the hour and then changed the game, levelling within 11 minutes with a header before scoring a second equaliser from the penalty spot.

Benitez’s response seems implausible. He felt Mitrovic was not fresh enough after playing in Estonia in midweek, an argument weakened by the fact other internationals were in the starting line-up. And he also admitted he didn’t want to keep tinkering with selection.

The Spaniard must also hope that skipper Fabricio Coloccini recovers quickly from a calf injury picked up on their La Manga training break.

He said: “You cannot change everything every week because then the players will be thinking, ‘What’s going on?’ ”

BELIEF

NORWICH: They have it in bundles, summed up by Gary O’Neil scurrying around the pitch with his bandaged head.

Now they face crunch clashes with struggling Crystal Palace and relegation rivals Sunderland.

Neil added: “We know if we don’t win at Crystal Palace then we need to make sure we take something from that game. Then we have Sunderland at home, which will be even bigger than Newcastle.

“This season is crazy because of the money that will come into the Premier League.”

Norwich players embrace after their tense win over Newcastle

NEWCASTLE: The Toon players talk about belief but you get the impression they are trying to fake it to make it.

Crucially, they are five points worse off than at this stage of the 2008-09 season — when they were last relegated from the Premier League.